Editing Jawaharlal Nehru (section)

==== Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: 1948 ====
{{Main|Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi|The light has gone out of our lives|l2 = Nehru's address on Gandhi}}
[[File:Nehru visiting Srinagar Brigade Headquarters Military Hospital in May 1948.jpg|thumb|right|Nehru visiting an Indian soldier recovering from injuries at the Brigade Headquarters Military Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir]]

On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking in the garden of Birla House on his way to address a prayer meeting. The assassin, [[Nathuram Godse]], was a [[Hindu nationalist]] with links to the extremist [[Hindu Mahasabha]] party, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-politics-of-an-assassination-who-killed-gandhi-and-why/story-iUJqKjuw0sP9nAfc5KcOII.html|title=The politics of an assassination: Who killed Gandhi and why?|date=15 August 2015|first=Abhishek|last=Saha|website=Hindustan Times|access-date=13 December 2021|archive-date=13 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213151236/https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-politics-of-an-assassination-who-killed-gandhi-and-why/story-iUJqKjuw0sP9nAfc5KcOII.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Nehru addressed the nation by radio:

<blockquote>Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me but for millions and millions in this country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Janak Raj Jai|url={{Google books|5Wrc1K0uJTgC|page=PA45|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|title=1947–1980|publisher=Regency Publications|year=1996|isbn=978-81-86030-23-3|pages=45–47}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Yasmin Khan]] argued that Gandhi's death and funeral helped consolidate the authority of the new Indian state under Nehru and Patel. The Congress tightly controlled the epic public displays of grief over a two-week period—the funeral, mortuary rituals and distribution of the martyr's ashes with millions participating in different events.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boundaries-of-belonging/performing-the-state-in-post1947-india-and-pakistan/51E29D5CE278C3362B5D10B45D35C71F/core-reader|title=Boundaries of Belonging|chapter='Performing the State' in Post-1947 India and Pakistan|date=2019|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first1=Sarah|last1=Ansari|first2=William|last2=Gould|pages=23–66|doi=10.1017/9781108164511.003|isbn=978-1-107-19605-6|s2cid=211394653|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043326/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boundaries-of-belonging/performing-the-state-in-post1947-india-and-pakistan/51E29D5CE278C3362B5D10B45D35C71F/core-reader|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78902926.pdf|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state|first=Yasmin|last=Khan|website=[[core.ac.uk]]|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043329/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78902926.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The goal was to assert the power of the government, legitimise the Congress party's control and suppress all religious paramilitary groups. Nehru and Patel suppressed the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), the Muslim National Guards, and the [[Khaksars]], with some 200,000 arrests.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Yasmin |year=2011|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state |journal=[[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=57–80 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X10000223|s2cid=144894540 |doi-access=free}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and helped them to understand the need to suppress religious parties during the transition to independence for the Indian people.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state|first=Yasmin|last=Khan|date=12 January 2011|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=45|issue=1|pages=57–80|doi=10.1017/S0026749X10000223|s2cid=144894540|doi-access=free}}</ref> In later years, there emerged a revisionist school of history which sought to blame Nehru for the partition of India, mostly referring to his highly [[centralised]] policies for an independent India in 1947, which Jinnah opposed in favour of a more [[decentralised]] India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gandhi-jinnah-both-failed-jaswant/99323-37.html |title=Gandhi, Jinnah both failed: Jaswant |last=Thapar |first=Karan |date=17 August 2009 |author-link=Karan Thapar |publisher=ibnlive.in.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703195004/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gandhi-jinnah-both-failed-jaswant/99323-37.html |archive-date=3 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/After-Advani-Jaswant-turns-Jinnah-admirer/articleshow/4900326.cms |title=After Advani, Jaswant turns Jinnah admirer |date=17 August 2009 |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=[[The Economic Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020021442/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/After-Advani-Jaswant-turns-Jinnah-admirer/articleshow/4900326.cms |archive-date=20 October 2017 |location=India}}</ref>